Josiah Conder (editor and Author) - Literary and Religious Works

Literary and Religious Works

Josiah Conder's work at the bookshop soon came to an end (c.1819), after wider recognition of his literary talents had led to him being offered the editorship of The Eclectic Review, a prestigious literary journal that he continued to edit for twenty years (1814–37). With strong Congregational links, he was also invited to edit The Patriot, a newspaper that espoused nonconformist and evangelical causes, and for which he was editor for twenty-three years (1832–55).

Amongst Josiah Conder's published works were:

• The Congregational Hymn Book, 1834
• The Withered Oak, 1805
• The Reverie, 1811
• The Star in the East, with Other Poems Chiefly Religious and Domestic, 1824
• Sacred Poems, Domestic Poems, and Miscellaneous Poems, 1824
• A dictionary of geography, ancient and modern, 1834
• The Choir and the Oratory, 1836/7
• Analytical and Comparative View of All Religions Now Extant among Mankind, 1838
  • This was a remarkable work in itself—Conder was the first European writer to distinguish between different traditions of non-European religion.
• The Harmony of History with Prophecy, an explanation of the Apocalypse, 1849
• Hymns of Praise, Prayer, and Devout Meditation, 1856
• The Poet of the Sanctuary, I. Watts, 1851
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, with a Life of the Author by Josiah Conder, 1838
• Narrative of a Residence in South Africa by Thomas Pringle, with a Life of the Author by Josiah Conder, 1835

The Choir & The Oratory or Praise & Prayer, became noted for one poem, 'The Apocalypse', which earned him a place in English Romantic literature; its popularity prompted him to pen the commentary, The Harmony of History with Prophecy, and Explanation of the Apocalypse for the more interested of his readers.

Amongst his hymns are the following:

• Baptized into Our Savior’s Death
• Be Merciful, O God of Grace
• Beyond, Beyond That Boundless Sea
• Blessed Be God, He Is Not Strict
• Bread of Heaven, on Thee We Feed
• Comrades of the Heavenly Calling
• Day by Day the Manna Fell
• Followers of Christ of Every Name
• Forever Will I Bless the Lord
• Grant Me, Heavenly Lord, to Feel
• Thou art the Everlasting Word
• 'Tis not that I did choose Thee

Considered to reflect his evangelical and liberal, nondenominational, outlook, these hymns were widely adopted by churches and chapels throughout the western world. By the early twentieth century, some seventy years after his death, one biographer noted that more of Josiah Conder's hymns were in common use in Britain and the USA, than those of any other Congregational author except for the great Dr Isaac Watts and his friend Doddridge. Today, electronic downloads are available for the more popular ones.